Steven Soderbergh Talks ‘Magic Mike 2′

After Magic Mike became one of the biggest surprise hits of 2012, there was seemingly instant talk of a Magic Mike 2. While the first film was charming, funny and sensitive, for many, its premise seemed more suited to a standalone story.

However, in a recent interview, director Steven Soderbergh talked about the sequel’s progress and noted that the filmmakers still have plenty of fresh material to work with.

While talking with Pride Source earlier this week, Soderbergh – who is still set to take a break from directing - said that he has been lending a helping hand in developing Magic Mike 2, which is fraught with story ideas based on Channing Tatum’s real-life experiences as an exotic dancer that Soderbergh couldn’t fit into the first film.

Here’s more of what Soderbergh had to say about Magic Mike 2:

“It’s getting pretty far along. They’ve got a good idea. There were some stories and events that Channing lived through that we just couldn’t fit in the first one. One of them is a really hilarious and very cinematic idea that we reluctantly didn’t put in the first film, because it was such a big idea you could build a whole film out of it – but we didn’t want to build that film out of it. It’s perfect for this, though.”

Soderbergh was intentionally vague about the exact details of the plot, but based on what we heard about a year ago from Tatum, we know that the original plan was to do “more of a broad comedy” with the sequel that brings the main characters back together for a road trip.

Soderbergh confirmed that the main characters would be back when discussing how he is involved with the project:

“I want to help. I have some proprietary feelings about it, obviously. I want to make sure it gets done and done well, so we meet every couple of weeks to talk about where it’s going. But it’s gonna be good. It’s a good idea. It’s not a retread. And there will be more time spent with the characters – all of them.”

Since the characters will be back, we can reasonably expect that Matthew McConaughey (Dallas), Matt Bomer (Ken) and Alex Pettyfer (The Kid) will return to reprise their roles, but the question now is: Who will replace Soderbergh in the director’s chair?

Tatum has previously said that he would be interested in making Magic Mike 2 his directorial debut. There’s still no confirmation on that front, but it would make sense for Tatum, considering that the material is based on his life and that Soderbergh would be there some of the time to help pass the torch and light the way. There may not be a more comfortable way for Tatum to begin a directing career.

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There’s currently no release date for Magic Mike 2, but we’ll keep you updated as news becomes available.

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Corey N Kaler 1 year ago

i’m okay with this movie and all, but if Tatum becomes a movie director, i will be absolutely furious. i know someone who’s met him and someone else deserves that job way more than he does. apparently he’s just an uncharismatic jerk

I really liked Magic Mike. Not only was it funny but I also thought the dramatic elements were handled well when they could have easily became cheesy and cliché.
But a sequel? With Tatum directing? I don’t know. But there’s no point in overthinking it or bashing the idea. It the studio wants it, it’s going to happen.